In-situ formation of Ti-Mo biomaterials by selective laser melting of Ti/Mo and Ti/Mo_(2)C powder mixtures:A comparative study on microstructure,mechanical and wear performance,and thermal mechanisms

摘要

Ti-Mo alloys/composites are expected to be the next-generation implant material with low moduli but without toxic/allergic elements.However,synthesis mechanisms of the Ti-Mo biomaterials in Selective Laser Melting(SLM)vary according to raw materials and fundamentally influence material performance,due to inhomogeneous chemical compositions and stability.Therefore,this work provides a comparative study on microstructure,mechanical and wear performance,and underlying thermal mechanisms of two promising Ti-Mo biomaterials prepared by SLM but through different synthesis mechanisms to offer scientific understanding for creation of ideal metal implants.They are(i)Ti-7.5 Mo alloys,prepared from a conventional Ti/Mo powder mixture,and(ii)Ti-7.5 Mo-2.4 Ti C composites,in-situ prepared from Ti/Mo_(2)C powder mixture.Results reveal that the in-situ Ti-7.5 Mo-2.4 Ti C composites made from Ti/Mo_(2)C powder mixture by SLM can produce 61.4%moreβphase and extra Ti C precipitates(diameter below 229.6 nm)than the Ti-7.5 Mo alloys.The fine Ti C not only contributes to thinner and shorterβcolumnar grains under a large temperature gradient of 51.2 K/μm but also benefits material performance.The in-situ Ti-7.5 Mo-2.4 Ti C composites produce higher yield strength(980.1±29.8 MPa)and ultimate compressive strength(1561.4±39 MPa)than the Ti-7.5 Mo alloys,increasing by up to 12.1%.However,the fine Ti C with an aspect ratio of 2.71 dominates an unfavourable rise of elastic modulus to 91.9±2 GPa,44.7%higher than the Ti-7.5 Mo alloys,which,nevertheless,is still lower than the modulus of traditional Ti-6 Al-4 V.While,Ti C and its homogeneous distribution benefit wear resistance,decreasing the wear rate of the in-situ Ti-7.5 Mo-2.4 Ti C composites to 6.98×10^(-4)mm^3 N^(-1)m^(-1),which is 36%lower than that of the Ti-7.5 Mo alloys.Therefore,although with higher modulus than the Ti-7.5 Mo alloys,the SLM-fabricated in-situ Ti-7.5 Mo-2.4 Ti C composites can expect to provide good biomedical application potential in cases where combined good strength and wear resistance are required.